Virginia law enforcement uses a variety of methods to catch speeding offenders. Below, a lawyer from Norfolk explains how to use these methods in court. To find out more about these allegations, call us and arrange a meeting with a lawyer today.
Officers usually use speed – detection devices are used to determine how fast someone is travelling in their vehicle. This type of equipment has special papers that show that the equipment is properly maintained and calibrated for each officer’s shift. Norfolk stewards are also constantly monitoring the roads and looking out for dangerous drivers.
But they need something more than words. They need the help of the public as well as the police and fire service.
You don’t get anything from someone who is convicted. If an officer has evidence that the special equipment has been used correctly, it is necessary to counteract any kind of evidence that casts reasonable doubt on the accuracy of the reading he is claiming. Remember that this will not just be random people who have absolutely no relation to the court and have everything they have from not being convicted. Their credibility is as solid as that of a policeman. And they have no incentive to lie in court because it could cost them their job.
In Virginia, the Traffic-RADAR tool is often used to detect speed. The most common is radar, which the courts have judged to be very precise and reliable.
The official can prove to the court that the instrument is calibrated in such a way that it shifts on presentation of a calibration certificate. Sometimes the calibration certificates are available and the courts accept them, but often the case can be dismissed on formal grounds. There is no proper calibration, information is missing or the information is incorrect. The way in which we can combat this is to know exactly what the calibration certificate has to prove.
In the case of speeding in Virginia, speed is when a law enforcement officer targets a vehicle he believes is traveling too fast. To do this, he sits behind the vehicle and tries to match the speed of the police cruiser with that of the target vehicle to ensure that the speeds are consistent. Another possibility is that the official must have his own calibration certificate for the speedometer in order to prove that the speed at which he has driven is correct. The officer then has to look at his own speedometer to determine how fast the target vehicle is travelling. There is a lot of human error that has made this method of speed detection very controversial. Speed is not maintained because of the way in which it is carried out.